End loading carton



Sept. 30, 1969 R. w. c. WALKER END LOADING CARTON Filed Oct. 19, 1967III/11.010. 4:11:11: a: 7'1

INVENTOR Richard William Charles WALKER AGENT United States Patent74,421 Int. Cl. B65d /06, 5/10, 5/16 US. Cl. 220115 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a blank and to an endloading carton formed therefrom, said carton having an integral bottomwall, a longitudinally divided top wall, a handle member formed in oneportion of said top wall and tearable from said one portion and alongitudinal central partition foldably connected to said handle memberand to said bottom wall.

This invention relates to containers, more particularly to end loadingcontainers for bottled beverages and the like.

Recently, many new end loading type cartons have been devised to meetthe needs of the bee-r industry which, in many parts of the country, hasshifted to end loading equipment. However, there remains a need for arelatively inexpensive but strong carton adapted to be filled by suchend loading equipment.

It is thus the main object of the present invention to provide an endloading carton that is inexpensive but has adequate strength.

Broadly, the present invention comprises a one-piece carton structurehaving a unitary panel bottom structure with a longitudinal partitionglued to said bottom and integral with a panel forming at least part ofthe top wall of the carton. By forming the handle from the top andpartition panels no extra material is required and the bottom wall beingmade of one integral panel provides a relatively strong carton.

Further features, objects and advantages will be evident from thefollowing detailed description taken into conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a carton blank.

FIG. 2 is a section view along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross section through an erected carton.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a carton constructed in accordance withthe present invention illustrating the carton prior to closing of oneset of end flaps and FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional viewshowing the handle in carrying position.

The heavy solid lines in the drawings define the edges of the blankwhile the dotted lines depict fold or crease lines.

As shown in FIG. 1, the blank 10 of the present invention comprises,from left to right, a first top wall 12, a first side wall 14, a bottomwall 16, a second side wall 18 and a second top wall 20, a partitionedpanel 22 and a glue flap 24. The walls 12, 14, 16 and 18 are foldablyinter-connected by fold lines 26, 28, 30 and 32. The inter-relationshipbetween the panel 22 and the top wall will be described hereinbelow.Glue flap 24 is foldably connected to the bottom of the partition panel22 by fold line 34.

At opposite ends of the walls 12, 14, 16 and 18 are end closure flaps36, 3'8, 40, 42 and 44 respectively. These end closure flaps areconnected to the respective end walls via fold lines 46 and 48.

3,469,736 Patented Sept. 30, 1969 The panel 22 is connected to a handlemember 50 and thus top wall 20 via a fold line 52. The handle member 50forms part of the top Wall 20 and is removably secured to the wall 20 bya line of weakness 54. This line of weakness 54 may be formed in anysuitable manner and serves to maintain the member 50 in the plane of thewall 20 during manufacture but permits the handle member 50 to be liftedfrom the panel for carrying of the carton. A suitable hand hole isformed in the handle member 50 by the flap 51, which flap is defined bya line of severance 53 and a crease line 55. The flap 51 is foldedinwardly to form a hand hole in the handle member 50. Panel 22 isseparated from the remainder of the wall 20 by a pair of *L-shaped linesof severance 56 and 58 which define a pair of glue tabs 60 and 62 on thetop wall 20. These glue tabs 60 and 62 are overlapped by the top wall 12to form a manufacturers joint in the carton.

To strengthen the handle, a handle reinforcing may be formed from thebody of panel 22 and folded back to overlie the handle member 50. Thereinforcing flap 64 forms such a reinforcing means. This flap 64 is cutfrom the panel 22 via lines of severance 66 and 68 but remains foldablyattached to the panel 22 by a pair of fold lines 70 and 72 joining theends of the lines 66 and 68-. These fold lines 70 and 72 aresubstantially parallel to the fold line 52 between the partition panel22 and the handle member 50. A second pair of fold lines 74 and 76parallel to lines 70 and 72 extends across the reinforcing flaps 64.These fold lines are arranged such that the lines 70 and 72 aresubstantially mid-way between the fold line 52 and the second pair offold lines 74 and 76.

Connected to opposite edges of the flap 24 and panel 22, adjacent flap24, via crease lines 78 and 80 are a pair of tabs 82. These tabs aredivided into a glueing section 84 and a folding section 86 by fold line34. The folding section 86 is further divided by a fold line 88extending across the section 86 at an angle preferably 45 to the foldline 34.

Before the carton is assembled reinforcing flap 64 is folded along foldlines 70 and 72 out of the plane of panel 22 and through an arc of aboutinto face-toface contact with the handle member 50 (as shown in FIG. 2).The reinforcing fiap 64 is secured in this position by any suitablemeans such as glue or the like.

To assemble the carton, the blank 10 is folded along crease line 32 toplace the flap 24 in face-to-face contact with the bottom panel 16. Theflap 24 is glued in this position thereby securing the panel 22 mid-wayacross the bottom Wall 16 (i.e. on the centreline of the carton).Sections 84 of the tabs 82 are connected in faceto-face relationshipwith the panels 40. The walls 12 and 14 may then be folded on to theremainder of the carton by folding along line 28 and the wall 12 gluedto tabs 60 and 62 extending from panel 20.

An erected carton, with one end closed, is shown in cross section inFIG. 3. As illustrated, the top of the carton is formed by the walls 12and 20 with the wall 12 overlapping and glued to the tabs 60 and '62 ofpanel 20 to form the manufacturers joint. The central partition member22 is integral with the handle member 50 which in turn is detachablyheld Within the plane of the wall 20. The partition member 22 extendssubstantially perpendicular to the handle member 50 and thus the wall 20by folding along the fold line 52. Folding along fold line 52 alsocauses the handle reinforcing flap to be bent at fold lines 74 and 76.The opposite end of partition 22 is secured to the bottom Wall 16 viathe flap 14 and tabs 84 as described hereinabove (see FIG. 4). When theend flaps 40 are folded to closed position, as shown in FIG. 3, the foldline 88 moves outwardly to form a gusset while the tabs 82 fold alonglines 78, 80

and 34 to move the two halves of section 86 (Le. the parts on oppositesides of line 88) into face-to-face relationship and the section 84 intoa plane substantially perpendicular to the flap 24.

FIG. 4 illustrates the carton just prior to closing one end and showingthe handle 50 in position in the plane of the top wall 20. The handle 50and handle reinforcing 64 may be lifted from the panel 20 simply bybending the tab 51 along fold line 55 to form the hand hole 90 (see FIG.curling the fingers through the hand hole and lifting up to separate thehandle member 50 from the panel 20. The handle member 50 is thus liftedin the direction of the arrow A to move same into carrying position asshown in FIG. 5.

The top walls 12 and may be provided with suitable score lines asindicated at 90 and 92 to facilitate opening of the top of the carton.If desired, these score lines may extend about the complete periphery ofthe top wall of the carton so that the whole top wall may be completelyseparated from the carton. Preferably the lines 90 and 92 will belaterally offset to avoid the carton being accidentally opened.

It will be noted that applicant has provided an end loading cartonhaving a strong unitary bottom Wall and has disclosed a cartonmanufactured from a minimum amount of board, thereby reducing the costof the carton without sacrificing strength.

I claim:

1. A blank for end loading cartons comprising; a first top Wall panel, afirst side wall panel, a bottom wall panel, a second side wall panel anda second top wall panel, said panels being integrally, foldablyinter-connected by fold lines extending along adjacent edges thereof, ahandle member integral with and formed in said second top Wall panel bya line of weakness which releasably holds said handle member in saidsecond top wall panel whereby said handle member may be lifted from saidsecond top wall panel, a partition panel integral with said handlemember, a fold line directly connecting said partition panel along oneedge to said handle member and a fiap foldably connected to the edge ofsaid partition panel remote from said one edge.

2. A carton 'blank as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a handlereinforcing member formed in said partition panel and foldably connectedto said partition panel.

3. A carton blank as defined in claim 2 further comprising; a pair ofglue flaps projecting from said second top wall panel, one of said pairof glue flaps being located on each side of said handle member.

4. A carton blank as defined in claim 3 further comprising; end closureflaps foldably connected to opposite ends of said Wall panels.

. 5. An end loading carton comprising; a first top panel, a first sidepanel, a bottom panel, a second side panel and a second top panelinterconnected to form a tubular sleeve, a handle member integral withand formed in said second top panel, means releasably connecting saidhandle member to said second top panel whereby said handle member may belifted from said second top panel, a partition panel integral With saidhandle member, a fold line directly connecting said partition panel tosaid handle member at one edge of said partition panel and meansconnecting said partition panel to said bottom panel.

6. A carton as defined in claim 5 wherein said means connecting saidpartition panel to said bottom comprises a. flap integral with saidpartition panel and secured to said bottom panel.

7. A carton as defined in claim 5 further comprising; a handlereinforcing member formed in and integrally foldably connected to saidpartition member, said reinforcing member being secured in face-to-facerelationship with said partition panel and said handle member.

8. A carton as defined in claim 7 further comprising a pair of glueflaps projecting from said second top panel overlapped by said first toppanel, said pair of flaps being secured to said first top panel.

9. A carton as defined in claim 8 further comprising; end closure flapsfoldably connected to opposite ends of said top, side and bottom panels.

10. A carton as defined in claim 9 wherein said means connecting saidpartition to said bottom panel comprises; a flap integral with saidpartition panel and secured to said bottom panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,603,923 7/1952 Chidsey 220- XR2,830,726 4/ 1958 Foster 220-1 12 2,874,870 2/1959 Collura 220--1l2DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 22952

